4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: coming to terms with the fact that having to take a break from education and work does not make me a failure.

5. Most people assume: That I’m just lazy and would be fine if I just ‘got a grip’.

6. The hardest part about mornings are: when my blood sugar is high so I feel naseus and at the same time very tired fatigued.

7. My favourite medical TV show is: Embarrassing Bodies

8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: my blood glucose testing kit.

9. The hardest part about nights are: night time hypos breaking up my sleep, endomitriosis pain making me want to cry out and having to hold it all in and when I’m so anxious about things that I can’t get to sleep in the first place.

10. Each day I take _ pills & vitamins. No vitamins but I take citalopram and levothyroxin and rigevidon.

11. Regarding alternative treatments I: don’t want anything to with them and am sick and tired of people insisting their alternative treatment will cure me.

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: Invisible, because thankfully I can have good days where I’m not impacted too much and I can get away from people’s comments and opinions.
13. Regarding working and career: I’m terrified that I won’t ever recover enough to work and that if I do I will only have a limited time where I can work full time as I’d love to.

14. People would be surprised to know: I don’t mind taking the number of tablets that I do. People think ‘oh so many!’ but I’d rather take them and feel slightly better.

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: that some parts of my health will never truly improve.
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: get into university in the first place.

17. The commercials about my illness: I despise diabetic commercials because they rarely if ever differentiate between type one and type two and lead to a lot of misinformation. I can’t say I’ve seen many commercials specifically relevant to anything else I suffer from. I do love the mental health adds these days encouraging people to understand and reinforcing that it is ok to seek help.

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: I miss being able to get up after 8 hours sleep and feel human.

19. It was really hard to have to give up: university. I felt I was a failure and that I’d never be able to go back.

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: colouring in. I have adult colouring books I get out when I can’t concentrate on anything and it helps me relax while feeling I’m doing something productive.
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: I don’t remember normal. I’ve always been ill. I’ve just picked up other ailments along the way.

22. My illness has taught me: to never judge give up on my body but to always respect it.

23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: ‘Well everyone gets anxious/depressed/tired’

24. But I love it when people: are willing to listen to what I have to say, learn how to work with me and my health and are happy to accept that I can’t always do what I thought I might.

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: that their illnesses don’t have to define them and don’t have to hold them back.

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: how much I’ve coped with and yet remain standing.

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: when I’ve had a bad episode of something or other, I have some great friends who keep txting me to check how I am. It is nice to think that someone is thinking of me and cares. Sometimes it is what holds back my depression.
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: I matter and so does everyone else that lives with an invisible illness.